Newsies at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre

I love the musical Newsies so very much and I had a lot of fun watching a fantastic production at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre under the stars last night. Jack Kelly (William Madsen) and his fellow "newsies" gather every morning to buy newspapers to sell to New Yorkers, but when Joseph Pultizer (Mike Handy) raises the price of the papers, the newsies decide to go on strike. With help from fledgling reporter Katherine Plummer (Mia Schoebinger), the newsies print their own newspaper about the plight of working children in New York which gets the attention of Governor Theodore Roosevelt (Chuck Archer). The music in this show is incredibly stirring and the large ensemble performs it with enthusiasm and energy. Their dazzling vocal performances in "Carrying the Banner," "Seize the Day," "King of New York," "Once and For All," and "The World Will Know" (which is my favorite song and gave me goosebumps because it was so powerful) are the highlight of this production. The choreography is also a lot of fun and, while there are lots of the iconic leaps, jumps, and spins, I think it is really fresh and innovative. I especially loved the tap dancing in "King of New York," the newsies running through the audience in "Brooklyn's Here," and the way the newspapers are distributed in "Once and For All." I was also very impressed by the leads in this show. Madsen is an incredibly appealing Jack. He gives a heartfelt rendition of "Santa Fe" (all of the young girls sitting around me were very appreciative of his performance) and a touching version of "Something to Believe In" with Schoebinger.  Another one of my favorite songs in this show is "Watch What Happens" and, even though Schoebinger (who has a beautiful voice) was not feeling well last night, she still gave it her all and delivered a plucky performance which I really liked because it fit the character. Gage Gillette, Porter McCormick, and Brayden Phillips are also very strong as Davey, Les, and Crutchie, respectively. The multi-level set featuring a New York neighborhood made of wood, brick, and metal is the biggest and most elaborate one I've seen for this show but the large ensemble use the space very well. The costumes are what you would expect (including the ubiquitous newsie caps) but one of the things I immediately noticed is that Davey and Les are dressed a bit better than the other newsies (denoting their more financially stable background) and I liked that attention to detail. Seeing an outdoor performance is one of my favorite summertime activities (the weather was absolutely perfect last night) and this crowd-pleasing show is one that you don't want to miss! It runs at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre every day but Wednesday and Sunday through June 21 (go here for tickets).

Dangerous Animals

Last night I went to a late screening of Dangerous Animals and it is a very intense mash-up of the survival and serial killer genres.  Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) is a free spirited surfer in Australia on the run from a difficult past.  She hooks up with Moses (Josh Heuston) after helping him jump-start his car but leaves early the next morning without saying goodbye.  She plans to surf that morning but is abducted by Tucker (Jai Courtney), an eccentric boat captain who survived a shark attack as a child, and is taken aboard his boat.  She discovers another tourist (Ella Newton) being held captive and is horrified when Tucker lowers her into a group of circling sharks that have been lured to the boat by chum.  Tucker films her being devoured by the sharks and adds the VHS tape to a large collection of similar tapes.  Meanwhile, Moses attempts to find Zephyr so he can surf with her and becomes alarmed when he sees her van being towed.  Zephyr realizes that she will be next and takes extreme measures to escape while Moses continues to try to find her.  However, they both have more to fear from Tucker than the sharks.  The tension is almost unbearable and I was on the edge of my seat holding my breath every time Zephyr gets away only to be captured once again by Tucker (which happens so many times).  The action sequences are very dynamic because Zephyr is forced to use whatever is at hand, including the broken handle of a bucket, a grappling hook, and a harpoon, to fight with and the booming score adds to the frenzy.  The underwater cinematography featuring the sharks is equal parts terrifying and mesmerizing.  Courtney is incredibly unsettling (I knew immediately that the tourists who hire him for a cage dive were in danger before they even got on the boat) and I think he should play the villain more often while Harrison gives a ferocious performance that is easy to cheer for.  This is a lot better than I was expecting and I recommend it as a fun, but grisly, summer movie.

Noises Off at Parker Theatre

Last night I went to Noises Off at Parker Theatre and it is definitely one of the best productions of this play that I have seen! Act I involves a disastrous dress rehearsal for the play Nothing On starring Dotty Otley (Mary Parker Williams), an aging television star, as Mrs. Clackett, Gary Lejeune (Roger Dunbar), a scatterbrained actor who can't finish a sentence, as Roger Tramplemain, Brooke Ashton (Corinne Adair), a young and inexperienced actress involved with the director, as Vicki, Frederick Fellows (Thomas Hohl), an insecure and accident prone actor, as Philip Brent and the Sheikh, Belinda Blair (MacKenzie Pedersen), a reliable actress who knows all of the gossip about the cast, as Flavia Brent, and Selsdon Mowbray (Duane Stephens), an accomplished actor with a drinking problem and a tendency to miss his cues, as the Burglar. Lloyd Dallas (Michael Hohl), the exasperated director, Poppy Norton-Taylor (Nicole Holbrook), the put-upon assistant stage manager, and Tim Algood (Seth Larson), the overworked and sleep deprived stage manager tasked with fixing every problem, are dismayed by how unprepared the cast is for opening night. Act II takes place backstage while the show is on tour and features the deterioration of a relationship between Dotty and Gary causing them do everything they can to sabotage each other's performance as well as Lloyd's ill-fated attempts to keep Poppy and Brooke from finding out that he is having an affair with both of them (and multiple attempts to have Tim buy them flowers). Act III takes place at the end of the run and Dotty has a complete breakdown forcing the other actors to ad-lib the rest of the show while Brooke performs her lines and blocking as normal. The pace of this show is so fast that it is frenetic and the entire cast has brilliant comedic timing because they make the action look spontaneous and effortless. There is an extended sequence involving an axe in the second act that had me, and the entire audience, in hysterics and I have no idea how they were able to pull it off! In fact, I don't think I stopped laughing during the entire second act because the chaos is so well choreographed. I also really enjoyed all of the subtle bits of characterization created to distinguish this production from others, especially having Dunbar point his fingers whenever Gary makes a nonsensical comment, having Williams become emotional whenever Dotty forgets a prop, having Pederson speak all of Belinda's lines with a southern accent, and having Stephens recite all of Selsdon's lines as if he was in a Shakespearean tragedy. This features the largest and most elaborate set I have seen at this theatre and the attention to detail, especially in the backstage area, is impressive. The sixties aesthetic used in the set decoration and costumes works really well but I think that Vicki's babydoll nightgown looks too similar to the dress she wears at the beginning of the show because I didn't immediately notice the costume change. I thoroughly enjoyed this production and I highly recommend seeing this stellar cast forget their lines, miss their cues, and misplace their props (go here for tickets).  It runs on Fridays and Saturdays (with matinees on Saturday) through June 28.

Ballerina

I am a huge fan of the John Wick franchise so I have been looking forward to the latest installment, Ballerina, for what seems like a really long time.  I went to see it with my nephew last night and I think it is a great addition to the series.  A young Eve Macarro (Victoria Comte) witnesses the death of her father Javier (David Castaneda) by assassins bearing the mark of a cult led by the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne).  He wants her back after her father fled the cult to give her a normal life but Winston Scott (Ian McShane) finds her and takes her to the Ruska Roma where the Director (Anjelica Huston) trains her as a ballerina and an assassin.  Twelve years later, while working as an assassin, Eve (Ana de Armas) recognizes the mark on her victim and wants revenge.  She asks the Director for information but she refuses to help her because the Ruska Roma has a truce with the cult.  She then turns to Winston and he leads her to an assassin named Daniel Pine (Norman Reedus) who is on the run from the cult and has claimed sanctuary at the Prague Continental.  When she confronts Pine, she finds an even greater motivation for finding the Chancellor.  She eventually tracks him to the village of Hallstatt in the mountains of Austria and, when she proves difficult to capture, the Chancellor threatens war with the Ruska Roma so the Director sends John Wick (Keanu Reeves) to stop her.  I really enjoyed Eve's character arc because, even though it seems to be her fate to become an assassin, she still has a choice about whether to destroy or protect (two sides of the same coin) and I think this is portrayed very well through Eve's interactions with Pine's daughter Ella (Ava McCarthy).  The narrative does take a while to get going because it includes Eve's backstory and training, which go on a bit too long in my opinion, but once Eve sets out on her quest for revenge it is so much fun to watch!  As you would expect from an entry in the John Wick franchise, there are some epic and innovative action sequences in which Eve must improvise in order to compensate for her small stature.  My favorites include the use of a pick axe in a nightclub made of ice, a fight involving dinner plates in a restaurant, and a duel between a flamethrower and a firehose in the village.  I think Ana de Armas does a great job with the fight choreography (I really liked her in No Time To Die) and I also liked her performance in the more emotional moments.  Reeves doesn't have much to do but it was fun to see him return as John Wick (it was also fun to see some of the other returning characters but it was bittersweet to see Lance Reddick play Charon for the final time).  This does not feature the same dynamic cinematography or dazzling locations as the other movies in the franchise but I enjoyed it and would definitely be interested in seeing a sequel.

The Play That Goes Wrong at The Ruth

My second theatre production yesterday was The Play That Goes Wrong at The Ruth and laughing out loud at this hilarious show was a great way to spend my birthday!  The titular play is the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society's production of The Murder at Haversham Manor by Susie H. K. Bridewell and everything that can go wrong does go wrong!  The Stage Manager Annie (Darci Ramirez) is still making adjustments to the set, with the help of a few audience members, and the Sound Technician Trevor (Luke Logan) is searching for a missing dog before the Director, Chris (Samuel Wright), welcomes the audience to the Society's most ambitious production to date.  The cast, including Chris as Inspector Carter, Robert (Charlie Flint) as Thomas Colleymoore, Jonathan (Chad Brown) as Charles Haversham, Dennis (Adrian Alta) as Perkins the Butler, Max (Brett Jamison) as Cecil Haversham/ Arthur the Gardner, and Sandra (Heather Shelley) as Florence Colleymoore, must cope with a set that is slowly falling apart, props that are misplaced and malfunctioning, and sound cues that are replaced by the music of Duran Duran.  Jonathan is unable to stay still while playing a dead body, Max is overdramatic and milks the audience for attention, Dennis mispronounces his dialogue, Sandra is injured midway through the performance and must be replaced by the unprepared Annie, and Chris cannot hide his exasperation with the goings-on.  But the show must go on until the murderer is finally revealed!  I have seen this show many times so I really enjoyed seeing some subtle changes to make this production unique.  My favorites involved one character being unable to see during the last few scenes and another actor quitting mid-show and leaving the stage in street clothes.  The entire cast is outstanding and the physical comedy is so much fun to watch!  I especially loved seeing the elaborate way in which Robert and Max must answer a phone call because they are both trying to hold the set together, the long drawn out fight between Sandra and Annie because they both want to keep playing Florence (I loved when they would both speak the lines in unison), the duel between Robert and Max after they break their swords and continue with pretend light sabers (I laughed so hard when Max jumped on the couch and said he had the high ground), and the spectacular collapse of the second floor study as Robert and Chris struggle to continue the scene while holding on for dear life.  The set is so much fun (it is basically another character) and, in addition to collapse of the study, I loved the malfunctioning elevator complete with smoke!  If you are in need of a good laugh, get yourself a ticket (go here) to this thoroughly entertaining production.  It runs in the Lindsay Legacy Theater at The Ruth through August 16.